These sourdough hot dog buns are light, fluffy, and packed full of flavor. They are super easy to make and will take your next family barbecue up a notch.
Summer has arrived in Missouri. We’ve had multiple very hot days already, but thankfully, it feels like the typical Missouri June weather is coming back.
These types of days call for a hot dog roast over a fire or BBQ. Since this is the first summer ever with a back porch, fire pit, and grill, we are totally living it up. We’ve had so much fun building family memories out there already.
How do you elevate regular ol’ hot dogs? Make some sourdough hot dog buns to serve them in! Delicious, tangy, and healthier than the store-bought bun, they are also pretty darn easy.
I understand that hot dogs are not necessarily a “health food”, but people aren’t usually choosing hot dogs to eat healthier.
They can, however, make a fun and delicious meal on occasion. We love choosing grass-fed hot dogs for a healthier option.
Most of the steps for the sourdough hot dog rolls are done the night before, so the day of, you just roll the dough, allow to rise one more time, and bake.
For a long time, when a long-fermented recipe called for eggs, I would wait until after the bulk fermentation to add the eggs, which can be tricky.
More recently, I’ve just been adding the egg when I’m mixing the dough, and it has been totally fine. But this will totally depend on your comfort zone. I’ve done this ten times now, and we’ve been fine.
Tips For Making Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
- This recipe can be fermented overnight for the most health benefits, or can be made into a quicker version for when you don’t have as much time.
- Make sure your sourdough starter is nice and bubbly. A active starter is what is going to give this bread its rise.
- If you buns are not rising the dough could be over-proofed, under proofed, or the temperature was too cold during rising. Also, if your starter is not super active it can take longer for the dough to rise.
- If you are new to sourdough, make sure to see how to make your own sourdough starter and how to care for it.
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What is the best bread for hot dogs?
Sourdough bread is, in my opinion, the best bread for hot dogs. This is because it adds so much flavor and is fermented, making the bread more nutritious.
Ingredients
- Sourdough starter – active and bubbly
- Warm water
- Unbleached all-purpose flour
- Coconut oil or butter – or any neutral tasting oil
- Honey
- Salt
- Eggs
Tools
Grain mill to grind fresh grain (optional)
Measuring cups
Parchment paper
How To Make Sourdough Hotdog Buns
The Day Before
Feed sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the dough. You want the starter to be really active and bubbly before it starts to come down.
In a stand mixer, add warm water, unbleached all-purpose flour, melted butter or another neutral tasting oil, sourdough starter, honey, salt and egg.
Knead with a dough hook for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap for 8-10 hours.
Optional: For a longer fermentation, transfer the dough to the refrigerator and chill overnight, covered.
The Next Day
Divide the dough into ten equal pieces. I like to use a bench scraper.
Shape the hotdog buns by rolling the dough out with a rolling pin to form a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle and then roll them up.
Cover the buns with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and allow to rise until doubled.
Create an egg wash by beating an egg yolk with water, then brush the tops of the buns with the mixture.
Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.
For A “Quicker” Version
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook, add sourdough starter, warm water, all purpose flour, melted butter or coconut oil, honey, egg, and salt. Knead for 5-10 minutes.
- Shape buns and let rise until doubled, approximately 1-2 hours.
- Create egg wash and brush on top of the shaped buns.
- Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven until lightly browned on top, approximately 25-30 minutes.
- Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
Find More Sourdough Recipes:
- Easy Sourdough Challah Recipe
- Sourdough Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler
- Sourdough Grilled Cheese
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Easy Homemade Sourdough Pasta Recipe
- Sourdough Zucchini Bread
Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, active and bubbly
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
Egg wash (optional)
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Feed sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the dough so it is nice and bubbly for baking.
- In a stand mixer, add warm water, unbleached all-purpose flour, melted butter or another neutral tasting oil, sourdough starter, honey, salt and egg.
- Knead with a dough hook for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap for 8-10 hours.
- Divide the dough into ten equal pieces.
- Shape the hotdog buns by rolling the dough out with a rolling pin to form a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle and then roll them up.
- Cover the buns with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and allow to rise until doubled.
- Create an egg wash by beating an egg yolk with water, then brush the tops of the buns with the mixture.
- Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.
Notes
- Optional: For a longer fermentation, transfer the dough to the refrigerator and chill overnight, covered after the first bulk fermentation.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you provide metric units?
Here’s my sourdough conversion chart!
Okay these buns are delicious the 3 stars are due to having the same sticky mess a previous poster did. The dough was a globby sticky goop after 10 minutes in the mixer. I recognized it did not see right and added flour 1tbs at a time until it seemed like a proper dough. It was a bit sticky in the morning but not hard to work with. I was able to cut and shape the buns no issue. All of that said the recipe as written did not work for me but with approximately 5 extra tbs of flour it was correct. I did use grams on the site vs following the measured cups so next time I will try the measurements to see if it works better.
Sorry, hate to do leave a bad review but have to warn other bakers. This recipe doesn’t work. The 350 at 25-30 is not correct. A similar recipe I use for rolls calls for 375. My buns on this recipe werent close to done at 30 minutes at 350. Additionally, this recipe unnecessarily calls for an egg in the batter. The dinner roll and hamburger bun recipe I use doesn’t need that, and it comes out amazing. I won’t be using this recipe again.
My dough was also quite sticky and I was skeptic at the beginning. But, they actually turned out great! I will definitely make them again. Thanks!
My dough was also quite sticky and I was skeptic at the beginning. But they actually turned out great! I will definitely do it again.
Made this recipe to a T using grams and my dough is so sticky, it seems like this has been a giant waste of time. The tell for the dough after the mixer of “smooth and elastic” is maybe too vague as I stopped mine around 8 minutes because it seemed smooth and elastic. It doubled in size during the rise and I was very excited to make the buns. The dough unfortunately sticks to everything completely and the only way to remotely make a hot dog bun shape was to cover a glob of the sticky mess and my parchment paper with rice flour. Let’s see if what I bake is remotely edible… I do not recommend this recipe, but glad others have found success with it.